Conventional systems exist which allow a user to connect to a network or otherwise communicate with another user without requiring a wired connection. For example, wireless local area networks (“wireless LANs,” or “WLANs”) may allow a network user within a building to roam throughout the building with a portable computing device such as a laptop or handheld computer, all the while maintaining connectivity to the network. Somewhat similarly, wireless wide area networks (“wireless WANs,” or “WWANs”) allow a network user to connect to the network from, and/or roam over, a much wider area. Many other examples of wireless networks exist. On such network is a “hot-spot” implemented in a convenient public setting, such as a coffee shop, for providing users (e.g., customers of the coffee shop) with a network (e.g., Internet) connection.
Such wireless networks offer ease of installation and use, as well as the potential for substantial cost savings to the administrators and users of the networks.